I was wondering what people think about setting canopy control requirements for jumpers. i.e. having a license to to do hook turns. There are some organizations that are coming out to promote canopy control & safety (ECPA-Extreme Canopy Pilots Association). I think that overall this is a very safe thing to do and will hopefully curtail the increasing number of pilot error fatalities in Parachutist, but I am sure that there are some people that are opposed to it because it enfringes on the freedom of what skydiving is based on. Your thoughts???

p.s. I know that i posted this twice, but I thought this would be suited better to this forum. sorry.

from what I have heard/read, the ECPA is geared towards canopy control and safety. I have not heard anything about a license to do hook turns. A license for hook turns makes no sense to me for 2 reasons. 1. most people who die doing hook turns are not the same people who routinely do hooks. they are the people trying to turn into the wind on after a bad spot, the ones who fixated on a target and will do low 360's trying to hit it, the one's who don't understand the dynamics of a hook turn and die doing their first or second hook. 2.the smart aproach to high-performance landings is gradual. you should start with straight-in fr. riser approaches, then a slight turn, and as you gain more experience, you add more turn. a license, if required, would be difficult to enforce. where would you define a hook turn? 180 on a sabre at 1:1? a 90 on a tri-cell loaded 2:1? either can kill in the wrong hands, but who would say a 90 is a hook turn?

hopper- I agree, but wouldnt you think that a canopy control class would help prevent those mishaps by teaching flat turns, etc? And the licensing, that is only talk and speculation at this point, so I am just wondering how people feel about it (good thing or bad thing) and if it were going to be done...how would it be taught and regulated. Regulating hook turns would be like anything else in skydiving. It would all depend on the DZ and how they feel about safety. There could be hookturn licenses or hookturn recommendations. (Like the BSRs from the USPA, there are rules and then there are recommended safety requirements).

If a licensing did actually go through, I really dont think that it would be a big deal. They jumpers that are doing it, should have no problem passing otherwise they would have probably pounded into the ground by now, and the people that want to learn can learn from an acredited coach/jumpmaster/instructor. At worst, people learn to be safer...Just a thought.